Thomas Ernest Bennett "Tibby" Clarke,

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(7 June 1907 – 11 February 1989) was a film screenwriter who wrote several of the

Ealing Studios Ealing Studios is a television and film production company and facilities provider at Ealing Green in West London. Will Barker bought the White Lodge on Ealing Green in 1902 as a base for film making, and films have been made on the site ever s ...

comedies. Clarke's scripts always feature careful logical development from a slightly absurd premise to a farcical conclusion. In 1952, he was awarded a Best Original Screenplay Oscar for his script for '' The Lavender Hill Mob'', making him one of just a handful of Britons to receive this award. He continued to work as a scriptwriter after Ealing ceased production, his later contributions including '' Sons and Lovers'' and the

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

film '' The Horse Without a Head''. Clarke was also a novelist and writer of non-fiction, but presented at least one fictional work as fact. His book ''

Murder at Buckingham Palace Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the ...

'' (1981) purports to tell the story of a hushed-up murder in the Royal residence in 1935. Despite its including 'documentary' photographs, there is no external evidence that the book is anything but pure fiction. For '' The Blue Lamp'' (1950) he drew on his experience as a

war reserve constable ''This should not be confused with a Special Constable, which was a voluntary British police officer, that existed alongside the War Reserve Constable.'' War reserve constable (or WRC, war reserve police constable, WRPC) was a voluntary role wit ...

with the

Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He was awarded the OBE in 1952. He was the subject of ''

This Is Your Life This Is Your Life may refer to: Television * ''This Is Your Life'' (American franchise), an American radio and television documentary biography series hosted by Ralph Edwards * ''This Is Your Life'' (Australian TV series), the Australian versio ...

'' in 1960 when he was surprised by

Eamonn Andrews Eamonn Andrews, (19 December 1922 – 5 November 1987) was an Irish radio and television presenter, employed primarily in the United Kingdom from the 1950s to the 1980s. From 1960 to 1964 he chaired the Radio Éireann Authority (now the RTÉ A ...

at the

BBC Television Theatre Shepherd's Bush Empire (currently known as O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire for sponsorship reasons, and formerly known as the BBC Television Theatre) is a music venue in Shepherd's Bush, West London, run by the Academy Music Group. It was originally ...

Early life

Clarke was born in

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

on 7 June 1907. His father, Ernest Clarke, had been raised in

Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship * Submarine hull Mathematics * Affine hull, in affi ...

, moving to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

in the late 19th century. He was enlisted to carry dispatches for the Jameson Raid though, avoiding imprisonment, managed to obtain a job working for a gold mining company. Ernest then married Madeline Gardiner, with whom he raised three children. The eldest child was Dudley Clarke, who would later become a pioneer of military deception operations during the

. A girl, Dollie, followed. The gold mining company Ernest had been working for then offered him an opportunity to move to their

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

office, enabling him to return to

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with his young family. They sailed from South Africa, the first ship to leave the country following the end of the

Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sou ...

. Upon arriving in England, Ernest purchased a house in Watford, where Madeline gave birth to their third and final child, Thomas Ernest Bennett Clarke.

Bibliography

Screenplays

*''

Johnny Frenchman ''Johnny Frenchman'' is a 1945 British comedy-drama romance war film produced by Ealing Studios and directed by Charles Frend. The film was produced by Michael Balcon from a screenplay by T. E. B. Clarke, with cinematography by Roy Kellino. Pl ...

'' (1945) *'' Hue and Cry'' (1947) *'' Against the Wind'' (1948) *'' Passport to Pimlico'' (1949) *'' The Blue Lamp'' (1950) *'' The Magnet'' (1950) *'' The Lavender Hill Mob'' (1951) *'' The Titfield Thunderbolt'' (1953) *''

The Rainbow Jacket ''The Rainbow Jacket'' is a 1954 British drama film directed by Basil Dearden, and featuring Robert Morley, Kay Walsh, Bill Owen, Honor Blackman and Sid James. It was made at Ealing Studios produced by Michael Balcon and Michael Relph and shot ...

'' (1954) *'' Barnacle Bill'' (US: ''All at Sea'', 1957) *''

Gideon's Day ''Gideon's Day'' is the first in a series of police procedural novels by John Creasey writing as J.J. Marric. Published in 1955, it features a day in the professional life of Detective Superintendent George Gideon of the C.I.D., Scotland ...

'' (US: ''Gideon of Scotland Yard'', 1958) *'' Sons and Lovers'' (1960) *'' The Horse Without a Head''

Non-fiction

*''Go South - Go West'' *''What's Yours?'' *''Intimate Relations'' *''This is Where I Came In''

Novels

*''Jeremy's England'' *''Cartwright Was a Cad'' *''Two and Two Make Five'' *''Mr Spirket Reforms'' *''The World Was Mine'' *''The Wide Open Door'' *''The Trail of the Serpent'' *''The Wrong Turning'' *''The Man Who Seduced a Bank'' *''Murder at Buckingham Palace'' *''Intimate Relations ()''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, T. E. B. 1907 births 1989 deaths Best Original Screenplay Academy Award winners People educated at Charterhouse School People from Watford 20th-century British screenwriters Metropolitan Police officers